A NEW art film and which explores the history of the forestry industry will be shown to the public for free in Kielder Water and Forest Park this month.

The Custody Code, a film and installation produced by artist Amanda Loomes, has been developed as part of the Forestry Commission’s centenary celebrations, and reveals the hidden industry within the working forest through telling the individual and intimate stories of the men and women who call the forest their office.

Partially shot in Kielder, the film will be shown on a continuous loop across two monitors in a specially designed, solar-powered building, made from sustainably sourced local timber.

The structure lies just off one of the forest pathways, tucked away between the trees, with the location chosen to reflect the behind-the-scenes, unknown nature of the forestry industry, in particular its workers.

To view the film, visitors will look through a series of slots in the structure’s walls, the intimacy of the viewing method mirroring the intimacy of the stories being told.

Amanda said: “It is easy to lose sight of these individuals as they go about their daily business across the 900,000 hectares of land that the Forestry Commission manages.”

The Custody Code will run from September 18 to December 1 at Kielder Water and Forest Park.